And Death Walked In Chapter 2
by FleshSac
Summary: part 2.. a little less serious, but it'll get back to that, trust me... you'll see why. please r+r


*warning* for those of you who read and liked the first one (by the way.. thanks for the kind reviews and ideas) know this: this may be a slight change in writing style from the last chapter.. not much but i'm a little more comfortable writing in the style you're about to read. this starts off in an extremely non-serious way, but it does come back towards the end. enjoy!  
  
where we left off: Selphie and Irvine were lying on the grass outside of the garden, enjoying the day in each other's arms when the sky opened up and Hell stepped though.  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Actually.. it wasn't Hell itself.. it was.. well, it was a coke bottle to tell the truth. This coke bottle, however, unlike most other Coke bottles, was hurtling to the ground at an alarming rate of speed. And it had a mouse in it.  
  
Now, in most places like, say, a wide open field, or a desert, and event such as this could go unnoticed, but this particular Coke bottle, and this particular mouse, did not want to go unnoticed. This fact could account for the reason that the bottle picked it's landing spot very carefully. The event went something like this:  
  
Selphie and Irvine were lying in the grass outside of the garden, enjoying the day in each others arms when...  
  
"Irvy.. do you hear that.. it's kinda like a whistling noise.."  
  
"Yeah.. now that you mention it, I do.. hmm.. seems like it's getting closer doesn't it?"  
  
"Yeah.. it's really weird sounding.. what d'ya think it is?"  
  
"Dunno.. but I wouldn't worry about it, 'cause.. OOF!"  
  
Irvine would have probably commented on how strange it was that there was a mouse in an airborne Coke bottle this time of year, but the mouse had chosen for it's landing point Irvine's forehead, so the word "oof" was all he could manage before conciousness left him.  
  
***  
  
Squall and Rinoa were standing on the second floor observation deck when they faintly heard a strange whistling noise, soon followed by Selphie's screaming. They exchanged worried glances and rushed downstairs.  
  
When they got out of the elevator, Quistis was waiting for them and all three of them hurried to the infimary.  
  
In the infirmary, Selphie was sobbing and talking incoherently. Dr. Kadowaki looked over as the trio came in.  
  
"He's alright.. just a bump, really."  
  
Squall and Rinoa looked at each other, confused.  
  
"Who's alright?"  
  
At this, Selphie calmed down somewhat and started making sense.  
  
"Oh, Irvy-poo.. who would have done this to you?"  
  
The three newcomers looked into the small room and saw Irvine laying on the bed with a dazed look on his face.  
  
"There's a snake in my boots!"  
  
Selphie leaned closer. "No, Irvy, there's not.. you just got a bump on the head, that's all.. someone threw something at you, but you'll be alright.. Dr. Kadowaki said so."  
  
Squall turned to Selphie. "Someone threw something at him?"  
  
Selphie, now in total control of herself, held up the Coke bottle. "Yeah.. some meanie threw this at my Irvy.. probably some jealous girl."  
  
Quistis looked at the bottle. "What's with the mouse?"  
  
Selphie, still holding the bottle up for inspection, looked around. "Mouse? What mouse?"  
  
Quistis sighed, exasperated. "The one in the bottle."  
  
"What mouse in the bottle?" She held to bottle at eye level, and realized for the first time that there was indeed a mouse inside. "Eeeeeeek!!!"  
  
The next two events happened almost simultaneously.  
  
First, Selphie let go of the bottle and tried to jump into Irvine's arms, and instead just landed heavily on top of the dazed man and bouncing a couple of times.  
  
Second, the bottle hit the floor, bounced back into the air, spun four times, hit the ground again, spun once more and rolled to a stop at Squall's feet.  
  
Squall commented: "Strong bottle"  
  
Irvine commented: "Someone's poisoned the water hole!"  
  
Squall picked up the bottle as Selphie got off of Irvine and pulled her dress back down.  
  
He put the bottle onto Dr. Kadowaki's desk and he, Quistis, Rinoa, and Dr. Kadowaki examined it closer.  
  
Squall looked inside and posed a question. "How do you suppose the mouse got in there, anyway? It looks too big to have gotten inside."  
  
Dr. Kadowaki was the only one to come up with an answer. "I suppose that someone could have put the mouse into the bottle when it was a baby, then raised it inside the bottle ever since."  
  
Rinoa frowned. "That seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just to throw a mouse-in-the-bottle at Irvine."  
  
Dr. Kadowaki nodded her head. "True.. but there's no use trying to figure out how it got in there.. we should probably think about how to get it out without hurting the poor thing."  
  
Selphie looked appalled at the suggestion. "You want to let a mouse go free? Eeeeeew.. shouldn't we, like, kill it or something?"  
  
"Kill it? Heaven's no.. it hasn't done anything to us."  
  
"Yes it did! It smacked Irvine on the head.. isn't that right Irvy?"  
  
"I'll take 'Creamed Corn' for a hundred, Alex."  
  
"See? See? That was a yes. I think that was a yes. Was that a yes, Irvy?"  
  
Irvine managed to get the word "Snarflat" out before losing conciousness once again.  
  
Selphie looked embarrased for a moment, then squeaked out, "Well.. it did hit him."  
  
Dr. Kadowaki looked amused. "It's not the mouse's fault that someone threw a bottle at Irvine.. let's just try to get the little guy out of here, ok."  
  
Selphie looked down at her feet.. not quite convinced. "Well.. OK, but if it gets out and starts running at me, don't think I won't stomp on it, 'cause I will."  
  
The Dr. laughed. "OK, Selphie.. it's a deal. Squall.. if you don't have anything else to do, could you lead the rescue mission?"  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Squall grabbed the bottle off of the desk and was getting ready to leave when he stopped suddenly.  
  
Rinoa looked puzzled. "Squall.. what's wrong?"  
  
Squall held up his finger for silence, then everyone in the doctor's office heard it (everyone who was still concious, anyway).  
  
Quistis put the question on everyone's mind to words. "What's that muffled mumbling sound?"  
  
Dr. Kadowaki finally realized what everyone was doing. "Oh.. that's Seifer and Zell.. they're in the room next to Irvine's.. you can see them if you want to.  
  
Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Squall all walked over to where the sounds were originating, and opened the door. All four nearly burst out laughing, but Squall was still able to ask the obvious question.  
  
"Um.. Dr. Kadowaki?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"There any particular reason that they're both in straight jackets with their mouths duct taped shut?"  
  
"Yes, well, they both came in together, and wouldn't stop fighting, so I had some students help me restrain them in straight jackets."  
  
"And the duct tape?"  
  
"They wouldn't shut up."  
  
"Ah.. OK.. well.. did you know that they're playing steamroller?"  
  
"WHAT?" Dr. Kadowaki ran over to the door and looked inside. "THAT'S IT!! You two are getting chained to the wall.. where'd those students go to?"  
  
As soon as Squall, Quistis, and Rinoa were out the door, they all double over in laughter, drawing the attention of everyone around them.  
  
When the laughing fits had died down (about ten minutes later), Squall held up the bottle. "OK mouse, let's get you out of there."  
  
And with that, the trio headed down to the workshop by the parking lot to try to release their small captive.  
  
Squall and Rinoa had by now completly forgotten what Cid and Edea had warned them about.  
  
***  
  
Death looked up from his magazine and checked his watch. Seventeen minutes left.  
  
***  
  
The bottle was, it seemed, unbreakable. Nothing cut it, nothing broke it, nothing put so much as a scratch on it's surface. Squall was getting angry, which was pretty apparent from the way he was holding the sledgehammer above his head.  
  
"Squall, WAIT!"  
  
He put the sledgehammer down momentarily and looked at Rinoa. "What?"  
  
"Well.. what if it works? What if you actually manage to break it? The poor mouse will be crushed."  
  
"At least he'll have a moment of freedom before he dies."  
  
"That's hardly the point. Leave the sledgehammer alone for now.. we'll think of something."  
  
Quistis walked over to the two of them. "Let's ask Cid and Edea if they have any ideas."  
  
Squall and Rinoa looked at each other and moaned.. how could they have forgotten?  
  
Quistis cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong?"  
  
Squall motioned for her to follow as he and Rinoa left. "C'mon.. we have to get the others.. I'll fill you in as we go."  
  
***  
  
Squall and Rinoa finished their report to the others as they stood waiting for the elevator to arrive. Zell raised his hand.  
  
Squall looked slightly annoyed. "What is it Zell?"  
  
"Um.. didja ever think that maybe the 'it' that the matron was talking about is.. the..." His voice trailed off so that nobody was able to hear the last word.  
  
"Is the what?"  
  
"The.. um... the mouse?"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Hey.. I was just thinkin' that matron said 'it's here' and then WHAM!" the sudden increase in volume made the five listening to him jump, "Irvine gets nailed in the head with a mouse in a bottle."  
  
Selphie piped up at this revelation. "Hey, yeah.. and if this thing that's coming is evil.. well, the mouse has to be it, because only something really evil would hit my Irvy-poo in the head.. isn't that right Irvy?"  
  
Irvine, who was, in his own words, 'feeling much better now' managed a "Yup."  
  
The elevator arrived and the six of them got on.  
  
Squall shook his head in disbelief as he pushed the button for the headmaster's office. "Did you forget that she also said that is was big? A mouse in a bottle does not qualify as big."  
  
Selphie had already thought of this. "Yeah, but what if she meant big as in 'something big is gonna happen.' She could have meant big as in important.. now don't you all think that something knocking Irvine out is important enough for Edea to be worried about?"  
  
The embarrased silence in the elevator sent Selphie into a fit of pouting.  
  
The elevator doors opened at the appointed floor, and the group got out. Squall was about to knock when they heard Edea scream, followed by headmaster Cid calling her name.  
  
Rinoa looked around embarassed, then started figiting. "Do you think that they're.. you know..." She blushed deeply and held her face in her hands.  
  
Squall cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "Headmaster?"  
  
Cid was quick to answer. "Squall! Get in here, now!"  
  
The six outside the door rushed in to see the headmaster holding Edea's head in his lap. She was in a visible amount of pain.  
  
Squall rushed over. "What's wrong?"  
  
As he knelt beside her, Edea let loose an agonizing scream. Blood began to pour from her eyes.  
  
Squall quickly jumped up, horrified, and became aware of an intense pain in his left hand.  
  
The bottle had become white hot.  
  
Reacting on instinct, he threw the bottle away from him. It shattered the window and began to fall towards the lobby of the garden.  
  
Quistis rushed over to the window to see the bottle falling directly towards Seifer, who was walking through the lobby with the disciplinary commitee in tow. "Seifer!! Head's up!!"  
  
Seifer looked up to see the bottle streaming towards him. He smirked, seeing yet another opportunity to impress Fujin and Raijin, and nonchalantly grabbed the bottle out of the air. Almost instantly, the bottle cracked and exploded, showering him with broken pieces of glass and mouse.  
  
Quistis's hushed "Oh my god" was enough to bring Squall, Rinoa, and Zell over to the window.  
  
Seifer, still covered in glass and little bits of rodent, looked up, locked eyes with Squall, and smiled.  
  
The entire garden was leveled before anyone even knew something was wrong.  
  
***  
  
Death perked up as they arrived, one by one, into the waiting room. He knew that there were others he had to pick up along the way, but this was a start... this was what he was waiting for.  
  
  
  
  
*notes* yet again, this was written on the fly.. i hope to get around to chapter 3 soon, but i cant really promise anything.. keep the ideas coming if you have them.. i've gotten some, and would like some more, so.. until next time.. cya.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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